| This is a more traditional craft for John the Baptist, it gives the wonderful illusion of water by using baking parchment to give the semi transparent quality of the river. It’s a really simple craft for any age and there are templates with and without the words showing for groups using different translations. |  |
…continue reading about John the Baptist (Matthew 3) | Craft 2
| This John 1 logos activity is a simple alternative to a craft and can be a used as a logic puzzle. It ties into John 1 where Jesus is described as ‘The Word’ or as John would have written ‘Logos’. I’ve tried to keep the style or lettering that was similar to what may have originally been penned. |  |
This passage in John 1 lends itself to word games, hunts for letters, light, and order. John was beginning, but he was aware that he wasn’t starting the story, it was already alive. Choose the game or games that suit your group and setup best.
All Ages
Any size group
No Setup time
Quiet game
Can be seated
Have you ever turned a doodle into a picture? Give each child a sheet of paper and a pencil. Have them draw a circle. They then have 1 minute to turn it into a picture of something. Repeat with other shapes: triangle, square, zigzag, spiral, etc.
Link : How to start a gospel.
Ages 7+
Small group
Requires setup time
Quiet game
Can be seated
Grab a letter-based game and put out the letters. Explain that the kids have to make a word using the letters that link to the word you give them. This can be against the clock or against another team. Words to give : sport, food, family, write, Jesus.
Link : John trying to describe Jesus
Under 7’s
Any size group
Requires setup time
Noisy game
Space needed
Crack a bunch of glow-sticks and then hide them around the room, drop the lights and challenge the kids to find them. If you have many colours, you can hide different colours according to age group or have kids only collect one of each colour.
Link : Darkness can’t stop the light.
Ages 7+
Any size group
Requires setup time
Quiet game
Can be seated
Grab a selection of random objects and give them to the youngsters. Tell them they have to put them in ‘order’. Let them decide of what that order will be. Talk about how when we put something together, we send messages about the order we see. Challenge them to choose another way of ordering them: how many can they do? If they are stuck, try size, colour, usefulness, beauty, or purpose.
Link : John was sending the message that Jesus’ story was part of the big story from the beginning.
All Ages
Any size group
Requires setup time
Noisy game
Can be seated
A simple mimic game where the first person taps out a small beat and passes it around the group, once it reaches the last person they change the beat. Add in sound effects as your group gets more confident.
Link : John was echoing something familiar — Genesis 1.
| This John 1 candle craft ties into John 1:5 “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” The craft jumps out of the page and is made entirely from a single sheet printout. |  |
Here are the images you need for the hero’s attributes linked to ‘The Word’ (John 1).
Each hero set contains a high quality graphic of the character, a take home bible card and a colouring page.
The images are displayed small here, click on the image you wish to have, then save the image that loads.
(These images are not copyright free, they are for personal/classroom use only.)
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